North Korea's development of a high-thrust engine capable of carrying a rocket has provided a "sure guarantee" for the country to launch various satellites into orbit, according to state media Monday. Pak Kyong-su, vice director of the National Aerospace Development Administration, made the remarks amid speculation the North is likely to put a military spy satellite into orbit by April. In an i...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on all farms across the country to focus on stepping up their grain production and meeting their goals for this year "without fail," wrapping up a four-day session of a key party meeting, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday. Kim urged its people to overcome the agricultural challenge for this year to achieve the future goals of development during the ...

A South Korean Unification Ministry amendment bill on the protection of North Korean defectors does not adequately guarantee their protection from forcible repatriation, a group of human rights organizations has said. They said the proposed revision gives too much discretion to the unification minister, who is appointed by the president and therefore cannot be seen as politically independent. E...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for a "radical change" in agricultural production within a few years, attending the second-day session of a key party meeting, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday. The North's leader stressed the need to find ways for "stable and sustained development of agriculture" during the plenary meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Ko...

Unification minister puts Kim's daughter in 'gray zone' of succession line, citing NK's patriarchal culture

North Korea has convened a key party meeting to discuss agricultural issues, with its leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, Pyongyang's state media said Monday, as the country is grappling with severe food shortages. The North's leader Kim presided over the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Sunday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. ...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new street in Pyongyang, the country's state media reported Sunday. Kim attended the ceremony in Pyongyang's Sopho area Saturday, which is part of an ambitious project to build 4,100 homes in the capital city's northern area, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The project is different from another one for th...

North Korea launched cruise missiles it said clearly demonstrated the country’s readiness for nuclear conflict, a day after South Korea and the US held their nuclear drills and three-way maritime exercises with Japan in response to the North’s separate ballistic missile test this week. According to the North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday, the North fired off Thursday four...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a letter to his Syrian counterpart hoping the country makes a speedy recovery from damage wrought by a devastating earthquake that recently struck the region, Pyongyang's state media said Friday. In the message sent to President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, Kim also expressed "deep appreciation" to Syria for extending warm congratulations on the occasion...

North Korea is expected to hold a key party meeting later this month to solely discuss agricultural issues amid keen attention to whether it will unveil any practical measures to address its serious food shortages. The secretive country earlier announced its plan to hold a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in late February to discuss "immediate farming issues and long-term go...

The priority of South Korean defense company Korea Aerospace Industries in the Middle East is to advance the project to co-develop multirole transport aircraft with the United Arab Emirates, KAI CEO Kang Goo-young said Monday. Speaking at the region’s largest international defense exhibition in UAE capital Abu Dhabi, he said the KAI was also eyeing opportunities to export combat helicopters and ...

PAJU, Gyeonggi Province -- Panmunjom, the Joint Security Area straddling the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas, was eerily quiet on Tuesday afternoon. Outsiders seeing the surroundings for the first time were greeted by near-perfect serenity in the place where the two Koreas vowed peace in April 2018. A historic summit that took place two months later in Singapore between then-...

N. Korea seeks to threaten S. Korea, US with strategic, tactical nuclear weapons in run-up to alliance’s military drills

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday, Seoul's military said, a day after South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills, involving B-1B bombers, in response to the North's long-range missile launch. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch from the Sukchon area in South Pyongan Province between 7 a.m. and 7:11 a.m. It did not ...

South Korea and the US staged combined air drills Sunday, a day after North Korea aggravated inter-Korean tensions by firing an intercontinental ballistic missile that South Korea believes could reach anywhere in the continental United States. The launch came ahead of Seoul-Washington nuclear drills scheduled for this week and their annual field exercises for next month -- both of which are inte...